


What's in a Name?

by fallraven



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anderson Is a Dick, Child Abuse, Drinking, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, Kid John, Kid Mycroft, Kidlock, Multi, My First Fanfic, POV Alternating, POV John Watson, POV Mycroft Holmes, POV Sherlock Holmes, Protective Mycroft, Soulmates, Soulname - AU, Soulnames, Teen John, Teen Mycroft, Teen Sherlock, Teenagers, Teenlock, also a teensy bit of Sherlolly, and finally an okay sized bit of Sherlock/Irene, little bits of Harriet/Clara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 17:25:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2200512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallraven/pseuds/fallraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Does being told your soulmates name help you find them? Or does knowing exactly what you want make it even harder to find?<br/>In a world where children are born with their soulmates name inked onto their wrist, many do find the love they were always meant to have, but many others are left always... wondering, always searching. And searching gets harder when nobody wants to be found.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preamble - Excerpt from the Book

**Author's Note:**

> So, this will be the first fic that I've ever written! I'm really excited for it, and i hope everyone enjoys it!! It was mildly inspired by several fics i was reading, and mostly by a tumblr post about the soulname AU I'm gonna try to link said inspirations as soon as i have access to a computer.  
> Also this was typed on my phone, so I'm deeply sorry for any mistakes!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter is going to be cut a bit short, and only include information about the Soulnames, though it isn't necessary, and self explanatory, I thought I would put it here for clarification purposes. So, if you don't want to read it just go to Chapter two, where the story begins.

Though scientists have searched and searched for an answer throughout the years, not a single one can find the answer to the mystery of what is called the Soulname.

Every newborn has a name inked onto the inside of their wrist at birth, this is what is called a Soulname. The soulname remains to this day an enigma, as no one knows how they come to be, or how the actual pairing is done. In fact close to nothing is known about Soulnames, besides the obvious of course. 

"While having one clear name on the wrist is the most common, some people are born with multiple names, which means they have two or more Soulmates, either at one time, or together in a Polygamist relationship. If your soulmate dies a peculiar phenomenon known as "Scarring" occurs, where the Soulname is split and partially covered by a scar which varies greatly in appearance from person to person. {"Scarring" has also been observed happening in several other cases unrelated to death, such as the Bearer of the Soulname going through extreme heartbreak, or the Bearer experiencing an unforseen change in their personality that would affect the compatibility of the two.} And yet others still are born with names in other languages, meaning they may be soulmates to someone living in a different country, or that they will meet their soulmate in a foreign country. Further still are the "Marked", those born with names that are obscured by numerous lines, or scribbles, causing them to be illegible. {Studies upon such Soulnames show that the lines or scribbles hiding the name slowly fade away depending on how close the Bearer is to their soulmate, but it is unclear wether they disappear according to time or proximity. Individuals known as "Wristreaders" claim to have the ability to decipher the names hidden from the Bearer before it makes itself clear, some as early on as birth.)} And the last form of the known Soulnames are the "Rejects" ones who choose to not even search for their soulmate, causing the Soulname to pale; Or worse yet, ones who reject, or are rejected by their soulmate, and carve the name off their wrist because of it."

-The Science of Soulnames, p.1-6 Ch. 3


	2. No Matter How We Start...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here's where the story starts! This chapter will be focusing on the Holmes family, and then the next chapter will be about the Watsons! I am in the process of adding somethings which might last a while because I only have access to a computer on the weekends. :/ Sorry. (Yes, Sherlock is William, dont worry, in the third ("fourth" for those of you going by the numbers) chapter he will be referred to as Sherlock, but first we have to go through his childhood, and then Redbeard's story...)

William Sherlock Scott Holmes. People were buzzing about him already, and he was only a few hours old. Of course, in the small house he was born in the people were chattering about how the youngest Holmes was Marked; a rare occurrence in the family. Even the eldest brother, Mycroft, had a singular name on his wrist, though he would never show anyone.

_.-*°| Mycroft |°*-._

My new baby brother is all anybody in this bloody house can talk about, it's insufferable, the way they all carry on about him. I haven't even been allowed to see him yet, but I suspect that will change in a few minutes time, as some maids had went in the room with the excuse of water and some other borderline useless items, and came back out chattering excitedly about how "William is adorable!" And "Oh, his father will be so pleased!". The door to the room opened again and a nurse starts to pull me into the room to see Mummy and the small pink baby she was holding swaddled in a blue blanket. I slowly made my way to her bedside and looked at her, trying to hide my interest in this new person in my house. "Mycroft, say hello to your brother, William." She said while smiling and moving the thing closer to me so I could hold it. I quickly looped my arms under the child to hold it as she had, and he looked at me with eyes that seemed too big and colourful for one so small. I decided that it was too early to tell if I liked my brother, but that caring for him wouldn't be as much of a burden as I had previously thought. The moment of truth fast approaching, I lifted my baby brothers arm and looked at his Soulname. I sighed as the realization struck me that i wouldn't know who was destined for my brother in quite.possibly a long time, as the name was obscured by swirls and scribbles. "He's Marked." Were the only two words I had said that day.

A year later...

"Why am I always left here to take care of you?" I wondered aloud to William, who seemed not to care much, as he just glanced at me with those adorable blue and green eyes, and then went back to taking apart one of his toys. I had already pulled out all the little things his hands were still too chubby to reach, and even though I trusted him to not eat or lose any of the pieces, I still had my doubts about leaving him alone with such things. As I watched, William took apart his toy with all the intense concentration of a brain surgeon, his tiny face scrunched up from how hard he was focusing on his task. He got the outer shell of the toy away and then tried to pull at the center, which I hadn't taken the screws out of for fear he'd zap himself and start bawling again.  
"My!" William yelled his nickname for me, as he couldn't just yet pronounce Mycroft. "Take 'part!" He shoved the toy at me, and pouted, with his chubby arms crossed, and a childish scowl spread across his features. I couldn't help but laugh at him, which didn't help his expression, in fact he frowned even more dramatically and stuck his tongue out.  
Laughing again as I took all the small bits out and confiscated the batteries, I said, "You are such a drama queen brother mine! But happy birthday anyways." It was a pity that Mummy had to leave before the small family party was over, and also that our father was away on some sort of business and missed the entire celebration. Why was I the only one to care for this brilliant little boy besides the nursemaids?

Two years later...

"But My, I don't want another babysitter!" William pleaded with me, clutching Redbeard to his chest tightly, as if the dog our parents had given him last Christmas would protect him from needing a caretaker in my absence. "William, you can not be here alone without supervision, as it is you've nearly broken bones already!" I said tiredly. How many more nursemaids were we to go through until he started primary school? "Deducing people to the point of resigning their jobs is not how one acts in today's society! Oh, why must you be so difficult?" I rubbed my forehead with one hand slowly to try and soothe the headache I could sense coming along. "We were just playing Pirates when she started yelling at us, and being boring!" William shouted, making his trademark face of scrunching up all his features in mixed disgust and frustration. "If I were really a pirate I wouldn't have to listen to them!" "Well you're not a real pirate, you are a Holmes! And it would be doing me a favor if you could at least try to pay attention to the people I leave you in the care of!" I countered, growing more exasperated by the minute. I truly did love my brother, and would do everything in my power for him, but I was nearing the end of my rope after all of this. He was starting to gain a reputation amongst the caretakers for hire. "But My I-" "No, William! Not this time. This is an argument you have no say in, you require supervision at all times, and whilst I, and our parents are busy that means you must have a Nanny. I'm sorry brother mine, but there is no other way," I said somewhat harshly, then remembering what day it was I immediately softened my voice. "For your birthday, why don't we go find a caretaker we can agree on, hmmm?" William looked at me then with a dejected sort of face and said, " Fine, but only because you said we'd both get to pick. Even though they're all boring." I silently thanked my brother for not fighting with me any longer, and nodded down at him. A quiet sigh escaped my lips as I wondered why our parents were always busy on the days when it should have mattered, but here for all the other times.

One year later...

William's fourth birthday, finally one our parents were present for, and a special one for him indeed; because my little brother was Marked, Mummy decided that her present to him would be to take him to a Wristreader. It was a very special present indeed, as he could potentially learn his Soulname without having to wait until the unique swirls and spikes faded on their own time. The boy himself, however was not so excited, "But Mum, why couldn't she just come to our house? I was busy!" Mum's reply was gentle, "Because darling, she has the things she needs already where she is, and moving them all the way to our house would be very difficult for her. " "I was busy though! First mate Redbeard and I were capturing the enemy commanders ship!" "Yes, I know sweetheart, but just think! Now you can think of even better ways to beat him, and you wont have to lose your eye this time" "What? I didn't lose my eye Mum!" Mum laughed at that, "That's wonderful! You wont have to steal all the washcloths when you get home then." Leaning forward she said, " Alright we're here boys! Lets go, Myc, help your brother out." I leaned over to help William get out of the seat, and then out of the car as Mummy walked into a colourful door that led into the building we parked outside of. "My, you know what I'm talking about right?" William asked as he slid off of the seat and onto the sidewalk next to me, " about the eye-patch?" I grabbed his hand and walked with him towards the building Mum just disappeared into. To humor him, and maybe because I didn't know, I said, " No I'm afraid not, brother mine, Why do the pirates wear eye-patches if not to hide their wounded eyes?" "Pirates wear eye-patches to keep one of their eyes used to the dark," He said, grinning ear to ear at knowing something I didn't, "so when they go below deck they can see without having to wait for their eyes to adjust." "Ah, ingenious!" I said, genuinely surprised at the ingenuity of such people. William was still smiling as we entered the small area and stood next to Mum, who was talking to a woman at the front desk. The inside of the building was almost as colourful as the door leading into it, yet surprisingly nothing was glaringly out of place. The woman at the desk tapped a button on her computer, and a quiet ringing noise sounded somewhere down the hall; probably informing the Wristreader that we had arrived. Of course I was correct, the woman came out only a few seconds after the bell chimed. She was a very stereotypical hippie type, with a loose green floor length skirt, and a billowing shirt the color of parchment, though she did wear the trademark necklace that all certified Wristreaders had; according to her Soulname she was either previously Marked and had found her soulmate, Richard, or she had been born with a clear Soulname. She spoke with a quiet and kind voice, "Ah, you must be the Holmes family, and which of these adorable boys are William?" I could feel my face contort itself into something along the lines of disgust at being referred to as "adorable". I glanced at my brother to point him out to the woman, and noticed that he also was none-too-happy to be called "adorable". I flicked my hand in his direction, and turned my face away towards the Wristreader, who laughed and gestured for us to follow her into the room she had just exited. "Sorry, I just couldn't help it, you and your brother have nearly identical facial expressions, and so in sync as well!" she almost whispered, and it was soon followed by another bell-like laugh as William, Mum, and I filed into her room. It was not very different from the waiting room, but the colors seemed to be darker, as if they were all mixed with a drop of black, or grey, there were two chairs by the door, and two chairs on opposite sides of a table in the center of the room, the only other furnishings were plants, which lined the walls, and hung down from the ceiling. Mummy and I took the two seats by the door, and William sat down across from the woman, who looked rather like a fortune teller now. "Alright William, I'm gonna need you to give me your right wrist, and not move it then, okay? Okay." She smiled again as my brother lifted his hand and gave it to her, she placed it against the center of the table and rolled my brother's sleeve down to expose his Soulname. Still smiling, she took out a black tool, and a white tool, both which looked nearly identical, with a wide end, spiraling down to a point, but the black had what looked to be a sharp, solid tip, and the white appeared to be somewhat of a paintbrush. I flinched in sympathy as she took the black tool and gently pressed it until blood started to bead up just above his Soulname. She then took the white tool and dabbed it into his blood, bringing it back to his Soulname as she started to paint over it with my baby brother's blood. Once the name was entirely covered in a even layer of blood, she bent down to pick some other things up from the floor, a spray painted jar, another white tool, a piece of white cloth, a piece of expensive parchment, and a calligraphy pen. As the blood dried on my brothers wrist, she unscrewed the spray painted jar's cap, and dipped the white paint-brush like tool inside it. When she finally took it back out, it looked exactly the same, if not whiter, and then she started to paint that over the completely dried blood. The blood surprisingly started to bubble, and smoke slightly, and my brother winced. She patted his shoulder in reassurance, and draped the white cloth over it and pressed it against the steaming mix until the white cloth turned a startling shade of amber. At this point my eyes couldn't get any wider, I had never seen anything like this, nor did I believe I ever would again. When the entire cloth was colored she took it away from William's wrist, he cried out as the cloth seemed to stick to his wrist, and she had to force it off. She laid it down next to the parchment and picked up the calligraphy pen. She wasn't even looking at her hand, now darting over the paper marking it in seemingly random places as she focused fully on the cloth which now bore the strangest black swirls, and lines, in a way, it was even beautiful. When the look of concentration faded off of her face, and she looked back at the parchment, another soft smile found its way to her lips. She handed the paper to my brother, along with the strange amber cloth, as she stood up and said, "Congratulations, It's a John!" she proclaimed positively beaming as she took William's shoulder and led him over to our Mum. Mummy smiled and hugged my brother muttering congratulations and various other things. "But... what happened to his Soulname?" I asked tentatively, it looked exactly the same, with the same hurricane of unique patterns, but in some invisible way, different. The woman looked at me with a sad expression on her face then. " Yes, that is a side effect I'm afraid, though I am surprised you noticed. His Marks won't fade now... so, how it looks now is how it will stay I'm afraid. Though now he knows his soulmate's name, he'll never know how close he is to meeting him, essentially taking away the perks of being a Marked." I was shocked. Did Mummy know this? How could she have done this to William? She just turned him normal! I glanced at my brother, who had heard the exchange. He looked unfazed by it, but I saw in the tiny way his breath picked up, and his eyes widened that he was also shocked by it. So Mum hadn't told him....

About one year after...

Finally, my baby brother had made it to primary school. Hopefully, he wouldn't make too many enemies on his first day... usually 5 year olds weren't too judgmental about status, or wealth; and that was ignoring the fact that my brother had the horrible tendency to blurt out his deductions of people lives with little to no censorship, which usually brought out the worst in people. Silently, I sent out a prayer to whomever happened to be listening, I'm not religious in the slightest, but god knows how badly William wanted to make friends, which was now made even worse because he thought that anyone named John could potentially be his soulmate, and he was paranoid about "missing" his soulmate because he couldn't use his Soulname anymore. And unfortunately, I knew how hard making friends was going to be for him...

Several hours later...

In my head I had my fingers crossed as I went to pick up William from his classroom after mine had been dismissed. As I rounded the corner I noticed how all the other children were playing a ways away, outside on the small colourful playground, and my poor baby brother was sitting all by himself inside the hall, watching them longingly. I sighed quietly, and put a hand down gently on William's shoulders. "Come on brother mine, we must be getting home now." I said with a pang of sadness for my poor brother, left out alone simply because he's different... these people were monsters. William brought his damp gaze up to me, and sniffled a little before he said, "My... why does everything hate me...?" Without thinking I said, "Caring is not an advantage." And after realizing what I had said I tried to cover it up with, " Not everything hates you! That's illogical, think of Redbeard! And Mummy, and Dad, and me. None of us hate you." And my poor baby brother just hung his head, gathered his things, and followed me to the car that would bring us home, away from this dreadful place full of cruel people

_.-*°| Sherlock |°*-._

The first day of school...

I was so excited to be going to primary school finally! There were not many children my age around our house, so I was up most of the night before talking to Redbeard about how many new friends I was going to make, and how much fun we would all have together playing pirates. Though I wasn't the least bit tired, I was a small bit anxious to see how many others would be going to my new school. Mycroft had told me about the things I would learn, and how most of it would be dull, and obvious, but I should try to keep it to myself because the teachers did not appreciate it when he used to correct them. I nodded in agreement, its true, most adults don't like admitting they're wrong, which is boring because then you have to struggle through them trying to convince you that they are right, when they're just idiots. The drive to the school seemed to take ages but it was really only a few minutes, how odd. but when the car finally reached the school, I was off like a shot, eager to find my new class, and see everything that I had missed when we first came to look at the school. I heard Mycroft exit the car, and I looked back to see him wave and head off to his own classroom. Briefly, I wondered if My had any friends, he never brought any home, and he never spoke of any either. I brushed off the thought, of course he had friends; he was Mycroft.

When I arrived at the classroom, there were a few other children milling about the room, and talking to one another loudly, the teacher was tucked behind her desk reading some kind of book. Boring, I thought to myself, and went to find where my desk was so I could organize all of my supplies. My desk was near the back of the room, close to the desk of a boy who hadn't arrived yet named Anderson, and a girl named Sally who had arrived. I went to go and talk to Sally, who was talking to some other girl and laughing. "Hello? Hi, my names William, and you're Sally Donovan." I said confidently, glancing at her wrist, she what looked like two Soulnames which I found odd, I've never been able to talk to someone with two. Sally stopped talking to her friend and looked at me. "Yeah," she said sort of bratty, "I'm Sally. Hi." And she went back to talking to her friend. I stepped back a bit and wondered what I did wrong. I hadn't thought I was being rude? "Are you just grumpy that your dad left your mom a few days ago?" I asked curiously, "your clothes are rumpled like you've slept in them so obviously your mother wasn't paying attention, your hair is messy, it looks like it hasn't been combed correctly in a while, also showing that your mother hasn't shown interest in you for a few days, and your eyes are still slightly puffy from what appears to be a mix of crying and sleepiness." Sally whipped her head around to stare at me with what appeared to be anger, and something like fear. "You freak." She said with wide eyes as she backed away and took her friend with her. I stepped back at her words even as she backed away from me. I'm not a freak, I thought, its plainly obvious that her parents have split. Was I not supposed to say anything? I frowned slightly at the thought, and moved back to my desk slowly, but not before quickly sweeping over the room to see if there were any Johns. To my surprise, and disappointment, there were none. The room was nearly filled with children now, most of which had friends already there, in fact only a few kids seemed out of place there, but if any came over to me they usually left after only a minute with the same expression Sally had on her face. Anderson, the boy sitting near me on the opposite side of Sally seemed to have the most friends, so I started to talk to him too, but he seemed to not like me at all, especially after I pointed out that his mum was cheating on his dad. When class started I still had no friends, and I was beginning to think that all the children in my class were just socially inept. When we finally made it to the first recess and we could go outside I was happy it was a warm sunny day for once. I ran outside with the rest of my class and tried to join in any of the games the others were playing, but they wouldn't acknowledge I was even there. In fact when I tried to talk to anybody about it they just told me to, "piss off". I was starting to realize that I wouldn't be making any friends today, and that I probably wouldn't make friends on any other day too. I sat by myself through the entire recess, by the door to go back in and the only person who came by me was a girl named Molly, but I told her to leave me alone because it was obvious she would just walk away as soon as I acted like myself. She seemed sad at first, but then slowly walked away, which I knew was better off for the both of us, she could have better friends, ones who weren't "freaks", and I could pretend I didn't care.

The rest of my day continued on like that, Anderson and Sally would take turns calling me names, and whispering insults at me, while the teacher just rattled on about whatever it was she found interesting at the time. The second, and last recess the class went outside for I tried to stay behind, but the teacher ushered me out with the rest of the children. Probably to read her stupid book. To my surprise Anderson was waiting for me with a few other kids, at first I thought maybe they had changed their minds about playing with me, until I noticed how they were all posed, with their fists clenched, and slightly leaning forward with a menacing look in each of their eyes. I took a step back but my foot just hit the now closed door of the school. I decided I couldn't just give up, but I wouldn't be able to take them all down... but pirate Captain William never gives up. So I stood my ground and prepared to fight them.

I didn't last fifteen minutes. And I only managed to take down three of the six kids, I knew their weak spots, but while I attacked one, all the others beat me down, until I was on the ground curled into a ball. One of the kids held me down while Anderson yelled in my ear, calling me a freak again, and kicked me over and over all down my arms and my side. I knew I'd have a lot of bruises, and that I would be very sore for a while, but I was thankful nothing serious seemed to be damaged. And I thanked god my face wasn't bruised, or Mycroft would ask what happened. Mycroft. He would be here to pick me up after school, hopefully Anderson doesn't try to attack me again, I don't want to see My's face if he sees me bruised, and battered. He would think me weak.

Finally, the long, arduous day was over, and the teacher dismissed the class and all of the other kids ran to the playground. All I could do was sit at the entrance to the hall, and wait for my brother. He showed up after I had been watching the other kids play for a while. By then I was choking back tears, the newly forming bruises hurt, but my pride and feelings hurt worse. I looked up at my brother and I asked him the one question that kept cycling through my head. "My... Why does everything hate me..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that was my first true chapter, I really would love to hear what you think, and how you think i could fix it to make it even better than I'm trying to make it.


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